Several days ago, the Crown Estate confirmed something interesting: after King Charles “cut off” Prince Andrew financially, with the hope of driving Andrew out of Royal Lodge, Andrew revealed to the Crown Estate that he had plenty of money to stay at Royal Lodge. Thus, Charles’s two-year-long plot to drive Andrew out of Royal Lodge has ended in a whimper. Charles and his people briefed about Andrew constantly, deflecting to “the Andrew situation” whenever they needed a quick pseudo-positive headline for Charles. It’s been the weirdest gossip thread to follow, because it was perfectly obvious that Andrew has had millions squirreled away for years. Well, now sources close to Andrew are taking a victory lap and saying outright that Charles looks weak and enfeebled for focusing so much time and effort on this ridiculous plot.

While the palace is refusing to comment officially, some of Charles’ friends are furious, saying that he has been badly advised—and calling for heads to roll. The story has sucked up a remarkable amount of royal time and energy since reports Charles wanted Andrew to leave first began appearing in U.K. papers in early 2023, just after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had been booted out of Frogmore Cottage in a kingly fit of pique over Harry’s depiction of the family in his memoir Spare.

Now, 18 months later, the king’s camp have been forced to admit what Andrew’s side have told The Daily Beast and others from day one; they don’t have a legal leg to stand on and Andrew and his heirs are entitled to stay at the fabulous, ten-bedroomed, crenelated mansion on 90 acres until his lease expires in…2078!

One friend of Charles and Camilla’s said: “Whoever advised the king to set off on this road and keep going down this road has very serious questions to answer. Charles loathes incompetence above all else. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if some people quietly clear off at Christmas never to be seen again.”

Another friend of the family said: “I’m afraid it’s another reflection of the family’s fundamental dysfunction. Normal families don’t have these kinds of arguments. The king’s aides were foolish to wash the family’s dirty linen in public in this way.”

Friends of Andrew told The Daily Beast this weekend they were happy for the disgraced duke. One said: “We are thrilled for Andrew. Andrew has a cast iron lease on the property so god knows why Charles chose to pick this battle. He has been comprehensively humiliated. It’s hard to imagine anyone would have any interest in where Andrew is living if Charles’ aides had not spent the past year banging on about it. He was never going to just walk away from the property; the lease is a valuable asset he intends to leave to his children, and maybe William will be glad of having Eugenie or Beatrice there in years to come. It’s a great result for Andrew and Sarah. It’s absurd that Charles wasn’t dissuaded from launching this campaign against them in the first place, but then to continue it this year, when the king has been so ill, was, frankly, nuts.”

[From The Daily Beast]

While Andrew is obviously trash, I have to admit, in this very limited situation, I’m fine with him “winning” and I agree that Charles put himself in a losing position, and that this was a humiliating defeat for Charles. You would have thought that the biggest crisis for the monarchy was Andrew’s valid lease on Royal Lodge, that’s the way “palace sources” banged on and on about it for two years. It looks like QEII was able to protect her favorite son much better than she protected her favorite grandson. Remember, Charles is only now claiming that QEII was the one who wanted Andrew out of Royal Lodge (a lie) AND that she would have evicted the Sussexes from Frogmore Cottage as well. Charles is such a dumbass, my god.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly have been mostly together since they met in 2020. They were drawn to each other immediately and began referring to each other as “twin flames.” Their relationship certainly has been fiery – the engagement ring designed to make Megan bleed if she ever removed it, the very loud breakup in early 2023, the on-and-off status of their engagement for a year, and on and on. Their relationship seemed toxic to me, but I think Megan likes the drama. Well, Megan and MGK are now expecting. This will be their first child together, and fourth overall for Megan.

Congratulations are in order for Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly. Fox took to Instagram on Monday to share that she is pregnant with her fourth child, her first with Machine Gun Kelly (whose real name is Colson Baker). Fox shares three sons with ex-husband Beverly Hills, 90210 star Brian Austin Green. Kelly is also a father to a daughter from another relationship.

“Nothing is ever really lost. welcome back,” Fox wrote alongside an angel emoji and a heart. In the post, Fox can be seen cradling her baby bump while covered in black liquid, tagging Kelly in the photo. In another image, she shares a photo of the positive pregnancy test.

The caption references song lyrics from Kelly’s “last november,” a song about his and Fox’s past pregnancy loss, which Fox had opened up about in some poems in her book Pretty Boys Are Poisonous.

Appearing on Good Morning America last year, Fox talked about the miscarriage: “I’ve never been through anything like that in my life. I have three kids, so it was very difficult for both of us and it sent us on a very wild journey together and separately … trying to navigate, ‘What does this mean?’ and ‘Why did this happen?’”

In an interview with Women’s Wear Daily, Fox said of the miscarriage, “That experience was so much harder than I would’ve anticipated it being, and I’ve really analyzed ‘why was that? Why was that so difficult for me?’ Because when I was younger, I had an ectopic pregnancy, I’ve had other things that I’m not going to say because God forbid the world will be in an uproar. But I’ve been through other similar issues, but not with someone who I was so in love with.”

[From THR]

Congrats to them. As I was looking for photos of them, I realized that they’ve been pretty quiet (as a couple) this year. All of their drama was front-loaded, and once they got back together for good last year, they’ve been keeping their sh-t off people’s radars for the most part, minus some of Megan’s interviews. They were seen on Halloween, where Megan dressed up as Padme and MGK dressed up as Anakin Skywalker. FIERY! Honestly, Meg’s Padme costume slaps, she really pulled it off. And to think, she was actually covering up her bump on Halloween.

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Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instagram, Cover Images.

A lot of people have been posting a British talk show clip over the past week. In the clip, reporter Rhiannon Mills (Sky News’ royal reporter) is speaking about the Princess of Wales, and instead of Mills reciting the palace’s lines about Kate’s cancer, Mills said that doctors found “pre-cancerous cells.” This clip has been cited repeatedly on social media, as people have been expressing skepticism about what we’ve been told about Kate’s health for months now. Looking back on everything around Kate in the past two years, I’ve become a Kate-Really-Was-In-Poor-Health-Originally Truther. As in, the start of all of this was legitimate, and she needed some kind of abdominal surgery to take care of something (which has never been disclosed). But so much of what has happened this year and so much of what we have been told absolutely *feels* like some kind of cover story or PR move. I don’t know the truth, but I understand why so many people feel like we’re being lied to. As for the “pre-cancerous cells” situation, the Daily Beast’s Royalist is one of the few outlets to touch the controversy:

Conspiracy theories surrounding Kate Middleton’s cancer diagnosis and recovery have erupted online again, after a report by a respected and accredited royal reporter suggested the Princess of Wales never had cancer but was instead found to have “pre-cancerous cells.” Vicious rumors perpetrated by online trolls alleging that Kate either faked or exaggerated her cancer to cover up personal difficulties have been turbocharged by the claim.

When Kate announced she had cancer in March 2024, she said tests after abdominal surgery “found cancer” and that she was advised to “undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy.” However, a doctor told The Daily Beast, “You either have pre-cancerous cells or you have cancer, the two terms are not interchangeable.”

The renewed attention on Kate’s condition was triggered after a September report by Rhiannon Mills, senior royal editor for Sky News, resurfaced this weekend. When covering the Princess of Wales’ joyful video announcement that she was “cancer-free,” Mills wrote: “In March the princess confirmed that pre-cancerous cells had been found following abdominal surgery and that she would have to undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy.”

The specific formulation of the words went largely unnoticed at the time amid relief at Kate’s announcement that she was “cancer-free” and widespread astonishment at the deeply personal nature of the film, which showed Kate and Prince William and their family engaged in a series of wholesome and well-lit pursuits.

Mills’ remarks cannot be easily dismissed, however, as she is a member of the so-called royal rota, a quasi-official group of royal journalists working for British media who, while maintaining their editorial independence and frequently writing critical stories about the royals, cooperate with the palace, especially on logistics, in a broad sense. The palace is often able to get simple errors made by rota journalists corrected, and the fact a correction hasn’t been made is relevant. Mills is a hugely experienced journalist.

[From The Daily Beast]

Not only is Mills well-respected within the British media, Mills was one of the reporters who traveled to South Africa last week with Prince William. Mills secured an exclusive interview with William (the “hardest year of my life” interview). From a media-management perspective, if Kensington Palace was pissed about Mills accidentally (or on purpose) revealing something about Kate’s health, they would have kicked her off the traveling rota for this trip. And William certainly wouldn’t have given her an interview. There’s another possibility too, connected to William’s interview – perhaps William’s interview was part of a quid pro quo to keep Mills from spilling more? A completely different possibility: maybe Mills was just talking out of her ass and she actually forgot what the palace’s line was, and she never thought people would call attention to it.

I’m not sure where that has come from. I may have missed it but I don’t recall the Princess or anyone at Kensington Palace using the phrase pre-cancerous cells. https://t.co/8VJ6J4OGtj

— Richard Palmer (@RoyalReporter) November 7, 2024

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

I totally forgot that Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger were expecting again. They announced Katherine’s pregnancy back in June, and last week, they welcomed their third child together (and fourth for Chris). After two girls, they “got the boy.” Which is what Chris wanted, I’m sure. This is their third child in five years. Which is on-brand for Chris Pratt.

Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger—who tied the knot in 2019—welcomed their third baby together, a son named Ford Fitzgerald Schwarzenegger Pratt, on Nov. 8.

“We are overjoyed to announce the birth of our son,” they shared on Instagram Nov. 11. “Mama and baby are doing well and Ford’s siblings are thrilled by his arrival. We feel so blessed and grateful. Love, Katherine and Chris.”

Katherine confirmed that they were expecting their third baby together in July with an Instagram post featuring her bump and a pair of pink plaid maternity overalls.

Their little one joins big sisters Lyla, 4, and Eloise, 2, as well as Chris’ son Jack, 12, with ex-wife Anna Faris. And over the years, the Jurassic World actor has given insight into life with his kids.

[From E! News]

Ford?? Ford Fitzgerald Schwarzenegger Pratt. That name is a mouthful. Fitzgerald obviously has a connection to Katherine’s mother Maria Shriver and the Kennedy-Shriver family. But at no point has Katherine used “Shriver” for one of the middle names. Lyla does have the middle name “Maria” though. So, what our thoughts on the name Ford Pratt? Eh. And not to be too bitchy, but I really hope Chris Pratt doesn’t praise Katherine for giving him another “healthy” child again.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Instagram.

Martha Stewart is supremely miffed that her past legal troubles were even mentioned in her Netflix documentary, Martha. You know, that little kerfuffle where she was accused of insider trading and then convicted of lying to the FBI after being targeted by an overzealous James Comey that resulted in a two-month prison sentence. Why on earth would anyone want to put that in a biographical documentary! Martha hasn’t forgotten that period, though she’d very much like you to. Martha also hasn’t forgotten the NY Post columnist who covered her 20 years ago, though she has forgotten the woman’s real name. And the fact that she’s still alive. During an interview segment in the doc, Martha declares it a very good thing that “New York Post lady” is dead. Which of course prompted said “lady,” aka Andrea Peyser, to clap back with: “I’m alive, bitch!” Excellent, no notes.

Martha Stewart mistakenly killed off a journalist mentioned in her new Netflix documentary, Martha.

In the film, which aired on Oct. 30, Stewart, 83, claimed Andrea Peyser — a New York Post columnist who covered Stewart’s infamous 2004 trial — was “dead now, thank goodness.” Except, she isn’t.

Peyser used her latest column for the newspaper to declare, “I’m alive, bitch!” Peyser, who started working for New York Post in 1989, has published at least eight other stories in 2024.

Stewart was convicted for lying to the FBI during an insider-trading investigation in 2004.

“Guilty, guilty, guilty on all these counts of whatever,” she said in Martha. “My daughter, she fainted when they read the verdict. Poor child.”

Stewart referred to Peyser as simply “New York Post lady” and recalls seeing her in the courtroom when the verdict was announced. In her latest story, Peyser confirmed she “wrote weeks of Post columns” during that time.

“New York Post lady was there, just looking so smug,” said Stewart. “She had written horrible things during the entire trial. But she is dead now, thank goodness. And nobody has to put up with the crap she was writing all the time.”

“News of my passing came as a shock,” said Peyser of her “uncredited cameo appearance.”

“But rather than feeling angry or worried that Martha has offed me, or to seek an emergency order of protection, I am overwhelmingly sad in the face of Martha’s bitterness.”

It is unclear why Stewart believed Peyser was dead.

[From People]

See, Ryan Reynolds, you got off easy just being called “not so funny in real life.” Martha could’ve knocked you off in her imaginary life! Ahead of its release, I predicted the pop cultural ripple effects of Martha would be epic, and I do believe that prediction has borne out, my friends. Martha was denouncing the trial’s inclusion before the doc even came out, which only served to bring more attention to that ordeal and whet our appetites for what else filmmaker R.J. Cutler had in store. (For what it’s worth, I thought Cutler actually did right by Martha in presenting a compelling case for the indictment being a legally-murky, overblown response from Comey.) It’s still hilarious to me, as an ardent observer of the human condition, that Martha was in a tizzy about coverage of her trial, when the real bombshells all had to do with her marriage, and selectively applied beliefs on fidelity. Martha wanted to cast her ex-husband Andy Stewart as a terrible cheater… and then turned around and casually dismissed her own indiscretions as not unfaithful but “emotional,” or not consequential because she would never leave her marriage over it and/or because Andy “never knew.” I’m not saying everything was Martha’s fault, I just find the gap in self-awareness FASCINATING.

Someone who’s not so enamored of all this rehashing? Andy Stewart’s current wife, who posted on social media recently that she wished Martha would please stop talking about a marriage that ended 34 years ago, one that she says was “painful and abusive” for Andy. And I think we all know who Martha’s going to declare dead next.

Embed from Getty Images

Photos credit: Getty, © 2024 Martha Stewart/Courte via Netflix Press, Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Netflix, IMAGO/mpi099/MediaPunch/Avalon and screenshots from Martha on Netflix

Leonardo DiCaprio had a star-studded 50th birthday celebration. [Just Jared]
Donald Trump’s chief of staff looks like and sounds like the mother of all Karens. Is this seriously the first female WH chief of staff in history? [Jezebel]
Nicholas Hoult really wanted to play Batman. [Socialite Life]
I’m still of the opinion that Kathleen Kennedy doesn’t know what she’s doing with the Star Wars franchise and maybe someone else should be in charge? [LaineyGossip]
I hope people see Conclave, it’s great! [Pajiba]
New music from John Duff. [OMG Blog]
Jodie Turner Smith wore Robert Wun to the EMAs. [RCFA]
There’s a big problem with the Wicked Barbies. [Seriously OMG]
Getting to know Bhad Bhabie. [Hollywood Life]
Behind-the-scenes stories from Anora. [Buzzfeed]

People are still buzzing about the Princess of Wales’s two public appearances this past weekend. On Saturday, she attended the Festival of Remembrance with her husband, and on Sunday, she watched the wreath-laying at the Cenotaph from a balcony, alongside the Duchess of Edinburgh. Kensington Palace must have issued talking points on their royal rota WhatsApp, because everything is about “Brave Kate” and “completing chemotherapy” and “everyone was there to support and center Kate.” From a PR perspective, it’s interesting to watch the push-pull of how this whole saga has played out over the year. Even after Kate’s weird “prancing in the meadow” short film in September, it felt like reporters were itching to call her out. Anyway, here’s the latest, from People:

The royal family was there for Kate Middleton during her first major set of events after completing chemotherapy treatment. The Princess of Wales, 42, stepped out for her first consecutive royal events this weekend after announcing on Sept. 9 that she completed chemo —six months after revealing her cancer diagnosis and treatment. Her family’s unwavering support was evident through their subtle, supportive gestures.

On Nov. 9, Princess Kate appeared at the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, for what marked her first major outing with the royals since completing chemo. From the moment they arrived, Prince William’s protective energy toward his wife was clear. He gently placed a reassuring hand on Kate’s back several times as they entered the venue in a loving gesture of support. The sentimental gesture was a rare display of PDA from the Prince of Wales, 42, who described 2024 as “brutal” and the “hardest year” of his life as his wife, Princess Kate, and his father, King Charles, were each diagnosed with cancer.

Decoding the PDA on Saturday, royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith tells PEOPLE, “He was putting his arm around her and being very protective. It is connected to what he said about this being a ‘brutal’ year.”

“He is not known for expressing his emotions in that way,” Bedell Smith says about William. “It was solicitous and protective in a very understandable way. There was a reason behind it, she was going into a big event where she was going to be on display. There was an element of reassurance in the way he was behaving.”

Princess Kate has never missed a Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph since she married Prince William in 2011, and Sophie showed her support as they stood together on the balcony of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The two women shared a soft smile at one point during the solemn ceremony, and Sophie put her arm around Kate as they exited the balcony of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

[From People]

We’ve actually seen William put his arm around Kate at public events here and there. He’s usually trying to steer her somewhere, or get her to stop talking and jazz-handing. Is that “reassurance” and support? I don’t know. In their few joint events this year, he’s mostly looked annoyed and over it. But I agree with many commentators: whatever has happened behind-the-scenes, I think William has been told and convinced that it’s easier and cheaper to have Kate around.

Also: Apparently, Kate’s name was left off the signed card on the Remembrance wreath. Usually, William and Kate “sign” the same wreath. Her name did not appear this year.

@KaiseratCB when you see it… #NOMB pic.twitter.com/xbAaJPGUPg

— Father Glowworm (@CarltonBaraza) November 11, 2024

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Months ago, when I was covering some story about the Heritage Foundation pushing hard for Prince Harry’s visa records and eventual deportation, I remarked that if Donald Trump won the election, everyone would have much bigger worries than “is Harry going to be deported?” We absolutely do have bigger fish to fry, but predictably, the royalists are throwing a huge party because of Trump’s win. The Venn diagram of royalists and MAGAts is an overlapping circle, and they’re begging the incoming Trump administration to please spare a moment to release Harry’s visa records and throw him out of the country. They honestly believe that Trump is going to order someone to handcuff Harry and march him back to England. Like, they believe Harry has no other options? It’s bizarre. Anyway, the Mail’s Richard Eden must have talked to all of Prince William’s clownish advisors, because everyone over there is damp with expectations of Harry’s eventual deportation.

When I disclosed last month that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had bought a home on the coast of Portugal, the reasons behind the purchase remained shrouded in mystery. Why had the couple bought their first European property after being evicted from Windsor’s Frogmore Cottage by King Charles early last year? Now, things may have become clearer: Prince Harry and Meghan could have been seeking an escape route if Donald Trump returned to the White House.

A royal source told me earlier this year that the Sussexes were making increasingly ‘desperate’ efforts to extend olive branches across the Atlantic. It followed a string of hostile comments from the Trump family. And the same insider yesterday said: ‘We can expect to see more of Harry back in Britain in years to come.’

During a visit to the Trump International Golf Links in Scotland in August, the President-elect’s son Eric called the Duke and Duchess ‘spoiled apples’ and echoed his father’s claims that Harry could be deported if the Republicans won. ‘You can happily have those two,’ Eric added. ‘We might not want them anymore; it feels like they’re on an island of their own.’

Donald Trump had previously suggested that Harry – who has lived in California since 2020 – would not get ‘special privileges’ and indeed may be deported if he is found to have falsified information on his visa form.

Someone who worked for the royals while the couple were still part of ‘The Firm’ told me in August: ‘It seems quite clear that the Sussexes are desperate to start healing the rift [with the Royal Family].’ As evidence, the source pointed to the string of stories that had recently appeared in People magazine, a favoured outlet of Harry and Meghan. They included an article in July about Harry’s despair that his father was not accepting his phone calls and another claiming that his rift with Prince William was not ‘irreparable’.

[From The Daily Mail]

“We can expect to see more of Harry back in Britain in years to come.” Sounds like that’s what William believes, maybe Charles too. But my sense is that Harry would rather live literally anywhere else with Meghan and their kids, and that his attempts to speak to Charles are about Charles’s health and not anything else.

Meanwhile, Heritage’s Nile Gardiner is already providing quotes to British media about his hopes, and Heritage’s hopes, that a Trump-administration’s DHS would release Harry’s visa records. Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told i News: “If [Trump] is provoked, it could get very messy. The whole thought of a member of the Royal Family being thrown out of the United States, especially given the special relationship, it would be very embarrassing for the Royal Family.” LOL, if this ends up being one of those “when the dog catches the car” situations, I will laugh my ass off. Trump’s DHS will release Harry’s visa records, then suddenly DHS is inundated with calls to release all visa records, and Heritage pressures Trump to deport Harry (for no reason, because Harry’s casual drug use years ago is not a deportation-level offense) and Trump doesn’t want to because even he knows it will opening a huge can of worms. Anyway, I’m glad Harry and Meghan have that Portuguese bolthole.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

I don’t have a solid plan for how we’ll cover politics from here on out. Obviously, I’m a huge Democrat and the incoming Trump administration is going to drag the country into the pits of hell. I’m sure we’ll have coverage of all of that, but I simply don’t feel the outrage and anger which I felt throughout the first Trump term. I just feel an almost pure nihilism. This is what a plurality of the country wanted, so this is what they’re getting. Over 74 million of the dumbest people you’ve ever met in your life voted for him, voted to end American ideals and the American project entirely. It is what it is. Nothing matters. Take care of yourselves, take care of your loved ones, and beyond that, watch millions of Americans grapple with the biggest FAFO in history.

Now, all that being said, I have some ideas for what should happen next with the Democratic Party. While there are still House races left to be called, I doubt Dems will have even a narrow majority when all is said and done. If Democrats are totally out of power in the federal government, then again, it is what it is. While there’s a lot of soul-searching, analysis and political postmortems already out there, I’d just like to say that I still believe Nancy Pelosi’s summer schemes and public reticence hurt the party longterm. Pelosi publicly shivved President Biden, plotted to sideline Kamala Harris, then went on a book tour trashing both of them before the election. Now, post-election, Pelosi is admitting what was obvious for months: that her plan was always to pass over Kamala Harris and that she was outmaneuvered by President Biden.

Representative Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker, suggested this week that it would have been better for the Democratic Party if President Biden had abandoned his re-election campaign sooner and the party had then held a competitive primary process to replace him.

In an interview on Thursday with The New York Times, Ms. Pelosi said what was widely reported around the time Mr. Biden dropped out: that she believed it was implicitly understood that his exit would be followed by an internal party competition for a new nominee, instead of an anointment of Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Ms. Pelosi said during an interview with Lulu Garcia-Navarro, a host of “The Interview,” a Times podcast. She added during the interview, which will be published in full on Saturday, “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary.”

Ms. Pelosi went on: “And as I say, Kamala may have, I think she would have done well in that and been stronger going forward. But we don’t know that. That didn’t happen. We live with what happened. And because the president endorsed Kamala Harris immediately, that really made it almost impossible to have a primary at that time. If it had been much earlier, it would have been different.”

Mr. Biden endorsed Ms. Harris within an hour after he ended his campaign in July, a decision he made only after an intense pressure campaign from Democrats that Ms. Pelosi quietly led. His support for the vice president, along with backing from many other Democrats, choked off any avenue for a challenger to emerge. Over two weeks, Ms. Harris swiftly gathered support from delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

[From The NY Times]

It’s exactly what I said it was back in July. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez rang the alarm for it too – it was never simply a pressure campaign (led by Pelosi, George Clooney and Democratic donors) to push out Joe Biden. It was always a fundamental part of their plan to marginalize and pass over the highest-ranking woman in government, the sitting vice president, a Black and Indian-American woman. This was their big intraparty coup attempt, and they are still pissed that Biden and Harris outmaneuvered them. For what it’s worth, while Biden’s endorsement signaled to Democrats that Harris really was his political heir and people should get in line behind her, Kamala Harris also coalesced the party behind her on her own. She was prepared, she met the moment, and people were thrilled to rally behind her. I don’t get why Pelosi still believes her plot was the correct way to go about any of this.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Backgrid.

I simply cannot emphasize enough how much Europe is freaking out right now because Donald Trump “won” the election. European leaders were at their wit’s end dealing with Trump in his first term, and they fully understand that his second term is going to be a lot worse. There are already reports that Trump will follow through on his long-standing wish of removing America from NATO. Even if he’s unsuccessful in that, he’ll be able to significantly weaken NATO and America’s NATO alliances. I certainly believe that he’ll cut off Ukraine and give Putin the greenlight to do whatever he wants there. That being said, Trump is extremely stupid and susceptible to flattery, and he loves nothing more than when European leaders or European royals are nice to him. Emmanuel Macron has his plan in place for how to deal with Trump, and it looks like Keir Starmer’s plan is just giving Trump a lot of facetime with King Charles and the royals.

The King is ready to use the Royal Family’s much-vaunted soft power to help smooth relations between Britain and Donald Trump’s incoming US administration. Keir Starmer has been working closely with the monarch on the international stage since July but Trump’s promise to shake up the world order now presents a serious challenge to the oft-cited special relationship between the two countries.

Quite how much King Charles or his family can do to help remains to be seen but once the new president takes office in January it is likely that the royals will be deployed to help get over Britain’s worldview to the new US president. The 75-year-old monarch has known Donald and Melania Trump and their children for years and, while they disagree on the threat from climate change and there are potential tensions on numerous other issues – not least Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – their personal friendship may stand the UK in good stead.

Starmer and his colleagues have spent the past few months trying to build ties with Trump and his team but face a few bumps in the road ahead. Trump’s closeness to Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Elon Musk – the billionaire X owner who has criticised Starmer over his handling of this summer’s race riots and claims of two-tier policing, and now inheritance tax raids on farmers – is a potential problem.

A row over Labour sending 100 current or former staff across the Atlantic to campaign for Kamala Harris in their spare time has not helped the new Government’s relationship with the incoming Republican administration. Nor has previous criticism of Trump from senior Labour figures, including the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, former frontbencher Emily Thornberry, and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

Some British diplomats have privately expressed frustration with what they see as the new Government’s naivety and missteps, as well as the foreign affairs inexperience of Lammy and his ministerial team. But then others have pointed out that other world leaders have made similar criticism of Trump and survived: Johnson, for example, worked well with Trump despite describing him as “clearly out of his mind” and “unfit for office” a year before he was elected president the first time.

But the royals can bring an extra element of diplomacy, via official and state visits, informal chats, and meetings at international gatherings. Trump owns a golf course near Aberdeen. Might a private trip to Scotland allow the King to entertain him over tea at Balmoral? Time will tell. The US president might also be persuaded stop over in Britain en route to a Nato summit in The Hague next June or come to London on a European tour in his first year in office.

Evie Aspinall, director of the British Foreign Policy Group think-tank, said there would be much that the Starmer and Trump administrations would disagree on in the next few years so the UK would have to be creative in its diplomacy.

“I do think that the Royal Family is a really good way for the UK to strengthen relations, not least because, Donald Trump, he loves family, he loves the pomp of the monarchy and I think that’s an exciting way for him to feel important,” she said. “Being seen to be recognised by the Royal Family is something, I think, that he would like. So actually the more we can bring in people like King Charles, who he particularly likes, I think there’s an opportunity to get a basis of strong relations from that.”

David Lammy suggested an inbound state visit might come later in Trump’s presidency, even though the precedent for previous second-term presidents such as George W Bush and Barack Obama was tea or lunch at Windsor Castle with the monarch.

The Foreign Secretary, who met Trump for dinner in New York in September despite his previous criticism, told the BBC’s Newscast podcast: “State visits take a while to organise. So in the next year, I’ve got to tell you, I think that would be a bit of a tall order. But he was genuine in his respect and his affection for the Royal Family. It is always the case that as head of state the King plays an important role. We want to be generous with our American friends and as they will be, I imagine with us, particularly in a second term.”

[From i News]

“Trump’s closeness to Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Elon Musk…” While I’m no fan of BoJo, he’s not trying to “run” Trump like Musk and Farage. Farage has been trying to become Britain’s ambassador to MAGAland for years now. Musk has his own agenda, and it’s not a British agenda. But anyway, yeah – what the Brits need to understand is that Trump is profoundly uncomplicated. He worships the Windsors and he’s a starf–ker of the highest order. Get King Charles to really glad-hand him and put down the red carpet and Trump will give Britain whatever they want. The Macrons will do the same – Trump is a huge fan of Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron because they always doted on him and gave him special attention. It would never occur to Trump that people think he’s a childish moron who can be largely swayed with flattery.

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